Turkey hunting is hard work

[jtwalsh62]

It is hard work to hunt turkey with a bow I uses a blind and the waiting game is slow Now with a gun it run and go but if I am not in a blind I get busted trying to get the shot off

[crotch horn]

Yes JT the waiting game can be tough but it is so cool to get a bird with a trad bow that its worth it. Bring a book or something to help pass the time. good luck. Season doesn't open for us until May 1.

[wapiti792]

Yes! I did a 6 hour sit on Monday out of my pop-up. My arse is still hurting but what fun! I had 2 gobblers just out of range strutting and one at 10 yards behind me. When I tried to unzip a new window I got caught. Turkies 1 Hunter 0. Can't wait until tomorrow. I am really itching to take my first turkey with a longbow. Keep after it everybody!

[Stone Knife]

It's very hard work carrying all the gear but when your successful it is worth it.

[jtwalsh62]

I am staying at it, my son has got him 2 so far with a gun ,it is run and gun for him

[bolong]

If it was easy it wouldn't be rewarding.

Thats what trad hunting is all about.

[Bunny buster]

quoting bolong:


"If it was easy it wouldn't be rewarding.

Thats what trad hunting is all about."


         

[Shakes.602]

THAT  is Why They Have a  "BOW SEASON"!!     You are There!! And are Big Enough to Share Too!!      

[Osage61]

Heading out April 26th for opening day of turkey here in Ontario Canada. Really excited about the calling and waiting to see what happens!! Going very traditional; no camo clothing, no tent or any camo netting. Will use some camo face paint only (have ashes from wood fire to try or the store bought stuff also) and will use natural environment for concealment. Probably end up buying a turkey at the grocery store but I like staying as close to momma nature as I can. I like the experience, more than anything I guess.  I'll let you know how the turkey hunts go !!

[twitchstick]

If you get woke up by one clucking in your window of your blind don't move,I learned it the hard way. A blind taught me to be more patient when I "run and gun". I didn't realise how long it can take a bird to come in. If the don't come right away sometimes they will come in  20 to 30 mins after your done calling. When I hunt the mountain birds I don't use a blind because I will hike as far as any high country deer or elk hunt. Yes I do get busted by birds but if you only draw when it's clear you will get shoots. Sometimes it's better to let them walk by and not shoot and try agian later. Just look for natural blinds or a ground nest can be made quick. Birds are sure tough to get but worth all the trouble.

[Osage61]

thanks for the advice i'll keep it in mind !!

[Friend]

I have been blind hunting for 15 years. The prior five years were action packed but fruitless. My tactics have changed dramatically  over the past ten years.Seemed that pressured birds would gobble at day light and would routinely go the other way when they hit the ground. So I rarely set up on a roosted bird. My set-ups focus on where the birds want to be in the 1st place. Much patience is required and a great seat is invalueble. I have awakened up to shoot birds on two differnt occassions. Also, have taken two birds while giving up on the spot and in the process of putting up my gear while still in the blind. When optimism is waning, I read, text my buddies, play on the internet or just take a nap. Effective scouting, optimism and patience are the cores to my strategy.

[Yellow Dog]

I haul my blind and all my other goodies on my deer cart. I have five or six locations I can hunt and I always set up in the same spots at each area. Eventually the birds make there way through, sometime during the day. My setup is always in an area where the birds can see the decoys from a distance and then it's a calling and waiting game.

[poison arrow]

Turkey season came and went here. it is as if they knew too. Not only did I find someone else in a blind in my best spot I didn't see a one turkey I could take.

[Osage61]

"I have been blind hunting for 15 years"

Friend I'm curious about what blind you use. Size? Make? One person?

[wollelybugger]

I have been runnin and gunning with a bow and have some great fun. I don't get many shots and haven't tagged a bird but have had some close shots and not tagging the birds was poor shooting. I carry a stool to shoot off of and some mouth calls, bow and three arrows. Rock and Roll.

[bluegrassbowhunter]

Ya daggone right it's hard but aint much that's any more fun....I'd be embarrassed to tell ya how much stuff I carry in on a  turkey hunt,the blind takes up the most room & weighs the most & I transport it on a pack frame along with a little tripod stool strapped to it,along with a vest full of junk....I don't move around on birds to much,I count on alot of scouting to put me were I need to be & try to wait em out most of the time.....Our season opens here April 17th & it can't get here quick enough.....

[John3]

Leave the blinds at home.. No fun and all work to carry. You are stuck in one spot.

April 19 I try again to get a Tom killed without a blind... We will see.
One of these times all will work out.

JDS III

[Friend]

First was natural blinds using camo materials, then a DB. I have had three two-man DB's. The latest is a matrix. I have not had the recurve version. Both the old T5 and Matrix have their own advantages. I had taken several birds out of the back of the T5. The Matrix is too low for me to shoot out of the back. Since hunting on pressured public land, the birds are extremely wary. The blind has to be very well hidden and the Matrix works well for that.

[Pinelander]

The birds that I hunt are "field birds". They spend nearly all morning long out in the open ag fields. Not many opportunities to sneak around or move around. I have several strategic areas to setup the DB T-5 and then try to outsmart them with different decoy setups, different calling strategies, and a lot of patience is required. Sometimes it makes for a long morning, 5 AM to 1 PM... but it's worth every minute.